1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a business model method and apparatus for reducing transactional costs and/or facilitating improved choice in access times, locations and providers of professional services such as medical services and products. In general, the present invention relates to a method and system for implementing an electronic auction of medical services and products via the Internet.
2. Related Art
During the advent of a booming e-commerce over the Internet, many people have become familiar with the flexibility and cost effectiveness of shopping “online” for various goods via the use of Internet sites that offer public auctioning forums of one sort or another where sellers and buyers may participate in some form of interactive bidding process. However, while online auctioning has been employed somewhat successfully in the context of bartering for various products, problems arise when trying to accommodate the need for assessing professional service provider qualifications, scheduling, location and quality. One of the problems confronting an online bidder for professional services is that there is no readily convenient means for verifying the qualifications of an otherwise unknown service provider or for assessing the quality of services likely to be rendered by a particular provider.
Online auction systems for some types of medical practices have already been attempted. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,191—DiRienzo (1999) discloses a system where certain remotely accessible physicians' services are auctioned so as to better distribute the availability/utilization of those services across geographic/time domains. DiRienzo is specifically directed toward the reading of radiological and other medical images (i.e., image-reading diagnostic services). In this context, DiRienzo generally teaches:                “. . . The essence of the invention is the use of a decentralized, i.e., self-organizing, distribution system combined with bid queues to establish a market place which allows for continuously negotiated prices with control (over who reads the images, when they are read and what the fee will be for such a reading) being totally in the hands of the patient/gate keeper and the diagnostic physician.” [column 8, lines 31-37].        
Additional prior art patents of possible interest include:                U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,208—Javitt (1999)        U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,700—Tallman et al (1999)        U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,939—Berman et al (1999)        U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,629—DeBruin-Ashton (2000)        U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,288—Solomon (2000)        
Javitt is directed to a system that allows a doctor to forecast utilization of services. Tallman et al discloses an online system that allows an insurance company member to select the most appropriate doctor. Berman et al teaches an e-mail system between doctors and others involved in a specific patient's health care. DeBruin-Ashton teaches a method of compiling a customized directory of medical service providers for a particular patient. Solomon is generally directed to online bidding for a service (i.e., any service, medical or otherwise) in which the price can be negotiated.
More recently, an Internet “web”-site, having a URL (uniform resource locator) address of “HealthMarket.com”, has begun providing an online exchange for locating and comparing prices of proffered health care services/physicians. This web accessible facility purports to provide “an internet-based utility that allows employers, individuals, brokers and insurers to find, evaluate, purchase and finance healthcare insurance”, and does not currently suggest or support online auctioning of personal medical services or products. Of course there are also the well known E-bay, Priceline.com, etc. online auctions and reverse bidding systems that are already well known.